Ex-professor recounts cruise ship scare

Former A&M-CC teacher, wife on boat that sank

An ex-local professor and his wife were among those evacuated from the
Greek cruise ship that sank late last week in the Aegean Sea.

Kent Kerr, a former Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi adjunct
computer science professor, described the incident in an e-mail to the
couple's daughter, who lives in Hawaii. Kerr and his wife, Evelyn, were
among 1,154 passengers and 391 crewmembers who were rescued from the
Sea Diamond when it struck rocks off Greek island Santorini on Thursday
and eventually sank. Two French passengers have not been found. The
Kerrs departed for their Greek vacation around March 25 and are set to
return to Corpus Christi this week, said their daughter Victoria
Pescaia.

"I'm sure it was scary," Pescaia said Sunday from her home in
Hawaii. "But they're ok, and basically in pretty good spirits."

Pescaia said her parents were visiting Athens on Sunday. In an
e-mail Kerr described the difficulty of getting off the vessel as it
began to tilt.

"On Thursday, we were coming to the last island Santorini, when the
ship got too close to shore and hit a rock that was harder than the
ship," he wrote. "After a few minutes we started listing (tilting)
about 20 degrees. We were directed to the port side and water-tight
doors were closed. Evacuation was difficult due to the 20-plus degree
tilt, but eventually everyone in our group got out. Two people (not in
our tour) are missing."

Kerr also reported one woman breaking her finger when the ship began
to tilt.

The cruise ship's captain and five other crewmembers have been
indicted on negligence charges in the incident. Authorities will resume
a search of the sunken vessel Tuesday for the missing French
passengers.

The captain has blamed strong currents for the accident. Pescaia
said her parents lost possessions kept in the cabin, including luggage.
She said they will be reimbursed for some of their expenses and
losses.

"Everything considered, we were very fortunate," Kerr wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Israel
Saenz at 886-3767 or HYPERLINK mailto:saenzi@caller.com
saenzi@caller.com